Investigation and elimination of surfactant-induced interferences in anodic stripping voltammetry for the determination of trace amounts of cadmium

This article aims to investigate in detail to what extent surfactants affect the determination of cadmium by anodic stripping voltammetry. In recent years, the production and use of surfactants have been steadily increasing, so that their concentration in environmental water samples is rising. At the same time, it is known that organic compounds, such as surfactants, often hinder the voltammetric determination of trace elements by stripping. Non-ionic (Triton X-100, Brij 35, Tween 20, Tween 60, Tween 80), cationic (CTAB, CTAC, DTAB, HPC) and anionic (DSS, SDS) compounds were selected to investigate the effect of surfactants on the voltammetric signal of cadmium. At the same time, the extent to which the addition of Amberlite resins to the analysed solution eliminates the interfering effect of surfactants was tested. Three types of Amberlite resins XAD-2, XAD-7 and XAD-16 were selected for the study and the ratio of resin weight to solution volume was determined. Finally, the determination of cadmium in surfactant-enriched environmental samples was carried out. The recoveries obtained between 95.5 and 107%, with RSD between 3.4 and 6.2%, confirm the validity and correctness of the proposed procedure All measurements were carried out by anodic stripping voltammetry using a CNTs/SGC electrode modified with a bismuth film as the working electrode.